SAW IT WITH MY OWN EYES

Auckland Star, Volume 304, Issue 304, 23 December 1926, Page 7 (Supplement)

SAW IT WITH MY OWN EYES

ILLUSI RATING THAT THINGS ARE NOT WHAT THEY SEEM.

tßy RONALD A. LAIRD.)

yrhe- .--■ ' "- "0 !e- others know tha! the:-: .- ' "■'-•: about certain happen.:;. _ --■■ 'I saw k wuh my own eves.' »- : ■ =sn who has spent his emir. ": . -;'>--.tific study of vicinn ir:.-- . - 'T.i -arts it with: three cry;'. ■'•".-' ">ee:r.g is deceiving"

My first introduction to these deceptions of our eyes was when I attended mv first country fair. One sideshow .ad. the head of tiie Sphinx on exhibition, an.l I watched this body-less head intently to try to comprehend how it could exist without a body, or how my eves could be tricked so that the head looked as it it had no body. But that is getting a little ahead of the story.

Each of our friends appears to be taller than he really is. This is due to a common illusion which makes vertical lines and distances seem longer than they actually are. This exaggeration may even amount to as much as 25 per cent when circumstances are suited to ihe illusion. When a tree is being felled, observers always keep a safe distance from the place they think it will strike. After it is on tiie ground they are astonished to rind that the tree is not nearly so call as it had looked when it was standing.

Is X or V the continuation of the line A? The average house also appears to be higher than it is in actual 'nd inches. Some amateur architects are not familiar with this fact, and in copying a house they have seen with pleasing proportions are taken aback to find that their completed house does not have the same balance, since they have taken the height as it looked, and not as it was. These deceptions of seeing justify the great expense to which some people go in building an elaborate model of the proposed house. Often the numerous illusions cannot be du.ovcred until the house is built. T:iese expensive models, however, make it possible to detect some of the distortions that will occur in the house unless corrections are made. A serviceable model can frequently be made from cardboard, in kindergarten fashion, using a scale of a quarter-inch for each foot of dimensions of the planned house.

Painting also alters appearances, a red , object seeming larger than the same ob- < ject in blue. Several duplicate card- j

board models can be constructed, and painted different colours, until the besr oombination is discovered. Not only does the length and size or objects deceive the human eye. but j the direction of lines is altered, straight lines are made to appear curved, and curved lines made straight. These illu- ; sions. which were known to the Greeks when they built their temples, were used during the war to camouflage ships.

What shape do these lines make, a square i ..r an oblong? j. Woodwork which has been given a | light finish reveals many deceptive ap-j pearances on account of the grain of the wood. Door frames of varnished pine, for instance, may appear out of square because of the illusions due to their grain being distinctly visible. This explains why the vogue of lightly varnished, "grainy" picture frames a few years ago was so short-lived. In the Parthenon, at Athens, the designers ingeniously overcame many illusions centuries ago. The beam which is on top of the columns, for instance, would appear to sag if it were actually straight. The base upon which the row

Which is the longest line. A. B or C? ! of columns is mounted ■would also be j deceptive if it were actually straight. •So the Greeks built these with a curvaj ture of as much as four inches to over- ■ .sime these deceptions. Have you ever looked at a tall build--1112 or coiumn, and noticed that it seems !tu be leaning outward? This is because the architect did not correct for this illu- \ I -ion as the Greeks did. The columns of 'he Parthenon, for instance, are inclined inward almost three inches to overcome this illusion. j Until recent years, skyscrapers from . two sides of the street appeared to | be toppling over on to the pavement, j The new type of architecture being used for skyscrapers overcomes this deception of the eye. The upper stories re- i ] cede to allow- light to pass into the can- - yon of the street. SWEET LAVENDER. I j Here is a recipe of Grannie's for all ; the girls who have carefully harvested' their lavender flowers: — Take Mb lavender flowers, *oz dried . thyme, ioz dried mint, Joz ground cloves, carraway seeds (ground), loz common salt (dried i. Have all your lavender flowers free of stalk. Rub the thyme and mint to a powder, then put all together in pretty silk or muslin bags, or in pourri jars. it is a very ! pleasant perfume. Here is another recipe: Take cloves, carraway seeds, netmeg, ! mace, cinnamon, tonquin beans (powdert ed). each loz. and of powdered Florentine ! orris roots as much as equals all the i rest. Put all these powdered ingredients i into little bags among your clothes, and ! they will prove a sure prevention from i moth. ;rifir a -r cc A